Each of the five types of conotoxins attacks a different target: 1  Î±-conotoxin attacks acetylcholine receptors at nerves and muscles. 2  Î´-conotoxin inhibits the inactivation of voltage-dependent sodium channels. 3  Îº-conotoxin inhibits potassium channels. 4  Î¼-conotoxin inhibits voltage-dependent sodium channels in muscles. Ï-conotoxin inhibits N-type voltage-dependent calcium channels. Because N-type voltage-dependent calcium channels are related to algesia (sensitivity to pain) in the nervous system, Ï-conotoxin has an analgesic effect: the effect of Ï-conotoxin M VII A is 100 to 1000 times that of morphine.
Master Sgt. Peter Andrew McKenna, a Green Beret, was killed in a Taliban attack at a US Special Forces base in Kabul, Afghanistan on Friday. Rhode Island Sen. Jack Reed, who met McKenna at the parade and presented him with the flag, called him a 'truly great citizen, soldier, person and patriot' in a tweet on Sunday.
Fred Berry, 52; Actor Became a Minister After Playing 'Rerun' on 1970s' 'What's Happening!'. Fred Berry, the rotund actor who played the jolly, red beret- and suspenders-wearing Rerun on the 1970s sitcom What's Happening! and later became an ordained minister, has died. He was 52. Berry, who recently suffered a mild stroke, died Tuesday at his home in Los Angeles, apparently of natural causes.